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Raising a child with Autism and Apraxia has been quite a journey. For any parent, the initial diagnosis was paralyzing. I suppose looking back on the road we’ve traveled, as that is always easier to see, we know there was something happening or rather not happening with Jacob right from the beginning. It was hard to accept that he was “special needs”. Really what did that mean? At first, it was seeing all of the things Jacob would never do. He might never get married, have children, go off to college, or play high school sports. After the shock and fear started to wear off, acceptance began creeping in and we began to see what a blessing he is to anyone he meets. What an honor it is to be his parents.

I remember the day 3 ½ years ago at age 30 months when we were told that Jacob had severe Apraxia and may never speak. Honestly it took our breath away. We asked the magic questions, “What can we do to help him?” Combined with intense speech therapy, it was recommended we order videos from Official Store of Signing Time!
created by Rachel Coleman, we had no idea if this could help him but we were willing to try anything.

The DVD’s arrived, we put them on and “it” started to happen. Within 3 weeks, Jacob had 75 signs and within 5 weeks he know 200. Imagine all of a sudden your child, who could say nothing, had a voice. His first signs to communicate with us were incredible. It hit us when he came to us and signed, “hurt” and pointed to his ear. We took him to the doctor and they said he had a slight ear infection. I started to cry. The doctor looked at me with a surprised look that said, “Really, it’s not that bad.” All I could say as I held my son was, “I know doctor, but he told me!”

Rachel Coleman and Award Winning Sign Language Videos!
gave our son a voice. We found out his favorite color was red. He liked cars and would tell us that he wanted to play or that he was thirsty. We are so grateful to Rachel for introducing our son to a whole new world, communication.

Jacob was then diagnosed with Autism at 35 months old. After flipping many stones, we found the Clinic for Special Children. Dr. Karen Harum medically took a look at our son and helped us to begin his road to recovery. Dr. Harum runs a non-profit clinic here in Wilmington, NC and is a Neurodevelopment Pediatrician specializing in children on the spectrum of Autism. Dr. Harum helps us manage his physical needs. Jacob gets 12 vitamin supplements 2x a day, chelation every other weekend to remove Arsenic from his cells, and he receives Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) 2x per week.

The Child Development Center took Jacob to begin building his educational and social/emotional development. The gifts that those teachers and therapists have are amazing. His speech therapist, Sue Coffey, combined using sign language with intensive verbal treatment for his Apraxia. Signing Time helped the CDC create a community of signers within his classroom. For this we are eternally grateful.

Today, Jacob attends Eaton Elementary and has a team of angels who help him to continue to build upon his skills and grow in his educational development. He is mainstreamed in kindergarten and gets occupational, physical and speech therapies. He also has a team that assists him in the classroom. His teacher, Mrs. Studebaker just lights him up and he adores each day in her classroom.

Yes, our son sees the world differently than typical children. He is a magical little boy who wants to communicate, play with his friends and just be loved.

With all that said on January 13, 2008 our world shifted off its axle. Our dear friend (18 year old), Alex Hartner was killed in a car accident. No booze, no drugs and was wearing her seatbelt. Alex was our friend; Jacobs’s baby sitter and above all she lived life with an extraordinary spirit.

Now in the mist sadness, Jacob began to realize that he was different. Talk about another kick in the gut. He understood that people were starring at him. That he is getting left out and left behind. Because he does not understand humor like a typical child he would say,” No laugh at me. The combination of events launched http://www.qksrv.net/click-PID- 3137491?URL=http://www.cafepress.com/ shop/autismshowucare. It matters to us that he see’s we are here to be a village that stand behind him. We realized that we needed to not only embrace Jacobs Autism and Apraxia on a home level but we needed to make a global difference. We saw on several levels how we could make a difference.

We know from experience that when you first put on a hat or t-shirt that says Autism Awareness it is very empowering and healing. It really helps you take steps forward. For you and your child.
Creating the designs has pushed us to a new level of acceptance and excited us to continue flipping over stones for our son recovery.
Understand that Autism Is. With this we are educating the day lights out of our neighbors, friends and strangers.
And of course…. financially giving to Autism Research to help find a cure.

Please help us make a difference…help us find a cure.

Peace to all,

Jacobs Parents

Autism Show U Care